Kelly winning is pretty cool. i always like watching the best surf. i gotta b a homer though esp. when it comes to AI. he won the ASP 3 years in a row (2002-2004). i'm not sure if slater took a year off, but the comps i saw with them were all-time. i hope somebody can push slater to b his best.

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Since he came back on tour in 2002 (or was it 2003?) Slater has won 5 world titles. Andy won 3. Mick won 2. Parko won 1. He hasn't dominated the way he did in the 90's. I don't think it's fair to say only AI challenged him. The two Cooly kids have taken 3 titles off Slater fair and square. Slater was fully committed last year, all year.

No doubt Slater is a great surfer, the greatest of all time. But his peers can and do take it to him. If Slater hasn't used priority against Parko today Parko would have picked up a 10 and the result would have been reversed.

Slater looks imperious today but he looked terrible at Steamer Lane and Sunset last year. And I personally reckon Mick and Parko and JDub are as imperious. The Spartan is also surfing well enough to challenge at the top.

I personally want to see a contest to near the end. I think we'll see it.

With respect to Parko but....not turning up at a contest most likely (more like definitely) cost Slater the world title last year. So...I am not so convinced Parko "took" the title off Slater. In my mind, to say you really beat slater you have to have fought hard against him all year on every event and with him being totally committed to winning. Andy is the only one to do that to my knowledge. In relation to taking priority off of Parko...do you think Parko wouldnt have done that to Slater? You do know its competitive surfing dont you? As for Santa Cruz and Sunset..agree..but those are notable poor performances because he so rarely has them...another sign that his head wasnt entirely in the game. My call is.. Slater by a mile this year but...I would be happy if I was wrong as long as it was a hard fought consistent battle by all of the players.

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If everyone remembers Carissa Moore did exactly the same thing to Tyler Wright to win the Quik pro a few years back
Drop in to hold priority to stop Tyler coming out of a sick barrel which would have been the winning wave
Just contest surfing
Priority is there for a reason
Bit sad to see Parko flicking the bird though
Supposed to be setting an example to the kids

Andy won 1 before Kelly came back I think.
Kelly has won around 50% of the WTs since he came back. with 43 and now 35 other guys competing I'd say that was pretty dominating.
Last year if Kelly hadn't skipped Rio and made it to round 3 or 4, I think he would have won the title before Pipe.

I reckon Mick is going to be the main contender again this year! Would love to see Michel stay consistent all year and take an event, I was hoping he was going to win this one.

No doubt it's dominating. If a footy team won 50% of the premierships in a decade you'd call that dominating. Then again, winning 30% or 20% would be considered pretty dominating too if one of the other teams hadn't won 50%. Basically, I reckon it's fair to say that 4 surfers have dominated competitive surfing the last 10 years (given injury deprived Joel of a second title he gets to be counted), with one of them sadly passed on, and of those 4 one has dominated more than the others. AI was the main competition to Slater in the early 2000's because Mick and Joel weren't great going left, particularly in bigger waves. With Chopes, Pipe and Fiji on the tour that was a huge gap in the year to hand to Slater and AI. But I reckon both are now the equal of Slater (and if he was still around, AI) in big lefts so when AI lost his competitive mojo the Cooly kids were in a position to step up.

My point wasn't really about that though - in the 90's Slater didn't really have any competitors. His peers treated him like a god. He won pretty much every year, like clockwork. I think he only lost one title on tour (his second year I think) after winning his first, before going into hiatus. I was contrasting the lack of meaningful competition to what I think is real competition in the 2000's.

FW Fan, I just don't buy that Slater has been anything other than 100% committed to surfing and winning contests the last decade. I think when he has professed otherwise he has been speaking out of his proverbial. Surely there is no doubt Slater is the prime competitive animal? It'sd actually been one of my main annoyances with Slater. Every year he feigned this act of indifference yet every year, without fail, he managed to turn up to contests and compete. To my knowledge he has missed two contests in all that time - JBay and Brazil last year, and on the latter occasion he was injured. It's because of injuries that throw aways exist. I just think it's incredibly disrespectful to the other competitors to say that Slater wasn't competing 100%. I have no personal doubt he was. People talk about Slater winning just one more heat but forget he was handed a victory over Ace in France he didn't earn, was given a free pass against Dusty Payne when Dusty's air wasn't given a 10. Now I agree it wasn't a 10 but when Slater pulls of similar moves judges give it to him (Bells, NY) so I'm just sayin'. Then on the other side Parko was clearly the form surfer at Trestles and lost not on performance but the waves he had selected all event deserting him in the final. He lost to Mick on a priority error at Chopes. Etc. my point here is it's all very well for Slater fans to complain about an adverse result here and there but that's to forget his peers also had adverse results and he benefited from some dodgy calls here and there himself. Slater was in it to win it last year. He intended to retire on winning the world title. He had his mum at pipe. I heard him with my own ears say last year was his last year on tour.

Another thing. It's a given nowadays that Slater is the most competitive surfer on the planet. But I remember all the crap AI used to cop for being honest about his competitiveness while Slater pretended an indifference. I didn't respect Slater's dishonesty. I also didn't respect the surf media for allowing Slater to get away with it.

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I know I'm sounding like a Parko sycophant but Wandi in Australia flipping the bird isn't considered a big deal - it's not like in the US where flipping is pixelated, which I always considered weird. And we're talking surfing right? It's supposed to be a bit rebellious - have a bit of 'tude.

All in All. Slater is still Top Dog. I enjoy watching him surf. as for last year, it cud've been competitive except for the fact that he doesn't surf the triple crown. only the pipe masters. last year he tried to pull it out. he surfed Haleiwa, which was like a 1st in 10 years. he did Sunset, but never wins there, and he did Pipe. after Santa Cruz, he tried, but for whatever reason he doesnt like competing in Hawaii.

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Only pipe counts towards the world title so I think he keeps his focus there.
I think it's also worth noting how much Kelly has experimented with board design during the WT in the last 10 years.

Agree...if he was super serious about winning a world title he wouldnt have done that as much as he did. Notice how when a heat really counts he is mostly riding conventional designs..quads being accepted as pretty conventional these days depending on conditions. There is no way you can compare the reaction of Parko "taking" the world title off Kelly to when Andy did it....remember the crying in the shower scene anyone?? None of that with the Parko victory at Pipe last year...I just dont think taking the world title was the be all and end all last year for Kelly..this year however I think its different..this will be his swan song.

As I understand it Kelly did the Triple Crown because Randy Rarick convinced Slater he needed to win it to round out his career. It's 100% consistent with Slater intending to retire at the end of 2012 on winning the title. As I say, I heard him with my own ears say he wasn't returning 2013. his retirement speech was anticipated post Pipe (because he'd flagged it so much). His mum was there. His whole plan revolved around him winning. He didn't. Just because a 41 year old man doesn't burst into tears on losing a title like he did 10 years earlier doesn't mean he wasn't 100% focussed on winning.

I mean, bear in mind circa 2002 Slater had no meaningful experience of losing before. Since then he's had to watch the title go to someone else 6 times, so he's probably developed some coping mechanisms. You'd sure hope he had.

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Did Parko get over scored last year? ( and in this comp ) yes. Has Slater been over scored in at least 60% of the comps in the last ten years? IMO -Yes. Is it either of these guys fault?
I don't see how! Have we all been treated to seeing the best surfing possible because of it. I think so.
I am a big Slater fan - he gives me hope that I can be better than I was in my 20s. I am a big Parko fan - when he is on, his surfing is technically perfect, simple, and effortlessly brutal. In style, it seems to be an attainable possibility, and I want to see more of it.
I hate the claiming from them both. Judging should straight up deduct 0.5 for claims - they are still standing and riding the wave - not cool- save it for the bragging at the bar afterwards. (Although any of my barrels over 3 seconds will be claimed)
I didn't like Parko's bird.
Oh and to all those who keep saying Dane is the best surfer on the planet at the moment - wake up. This was another of Kelly's mind games to divert attention. No doubt there are moments of incredible ability and brilliance, but over most given 30 minute periods in the water with other high calibre surfers. ... Well the other guys come out on top; as per Kelly's plan.
At the end of the day however, I just want to see great surfing. The personal stories I can read about afterwards or more likely see on next year's documentary film list.
Can't wait for Bells!
Must go to sleep now.

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Toledo did look amazing. As the swell grows it'll be interesting to see how he goes. I suspect his small frame will see him drop back a tad behind the Slaters and Parkos and Fannings. All of whom looked masterful by the way.

If Jordy and Owen can catch good waves and surf them through they'll be up there too.